Kenyan Inspiration

A few months ago, I was fortunate enough to travel to Kenya, where I was able to see first-hand how to truly appreciate nature and learn the importance of living a sustainable lifestyle. Not only was the landscape jaw-droppingly beautiful, but the culture of the Masai people taught me more than I could imagine about living in harmony with our planet.

Their focus on embracing our land and learning how to use the natural resources available to them was truly inspirational.

Take a look at some of these photos that demonstrate how innovative one can be when we strip away many of the material goods that we take for granted.

The Masai of East Africa build their homes with sticks, cow dung, and grass. The cluster of homes is surrounded by a boma, a thick thorny bush of acacia trees. The boma provides formidable protection against lions, elephants, and the dangers of the wildlife in the Serengeti.

Their shoes are made of rubber tires, taking recycling to a whole new level. Their cooking utensils are made from gourds or carved instruments from wood. Cattle is considered sacred to the Masai, and the blood and milk of the cow is their main source of food. Living as their ancestors did, there is little evidence of Western civilization in their tribes.

The waste produced through their daily activities is recycled back into the earth, through the process of decomposition. Their "leave no trace" philosophy made perfectly sense in an area where humans beings live alongside the wilderness. Despite their evident lack of commodities, the people were friendly, happy, and caring. We celebrated through dance and song, around a fire that we watched them start using dry grass and the strategic angle of the sun.

In our world of over-consumption and our society's focus on always wanting more, it was a humbling experience to see how many people in the world live with so much less. This experience really made me question whether we were placing value on the wrong things in society.

W.L at Pretty Organic Cosmetics